Virginia Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly, who sits on the House Oversight Committee, practically dared President Donald Trump to continue stonewalling Congress, saying if the president wanted “war” he was more than happy to throw down the gauntlet.

“Do you foresee jail time? At what point does it come to that, and how do you do that?” asked host Brianna Keilar. “Normally when someone is held in contempt of Congress, the back stop is the Department of Justice, which you just pointed out is led by Attorney General Bill Barr, who you would not expect to be in your corner.”

I don’t expect him to play fair or be a neutral arbiter,” said Connolly of Barr, who has been widely criticized for acting as the president’s puppet. “I don’t threaten anybody. I am simply pointing out Congress has immense powers and if you want to go to war with Congress, you do so at your own peril.”

“How do you do it without the Department of Justice,” pressed Keilar.

“First of all there is the issue of subpoenas. Then there is contempt of Congress citations,” Connolly said, who was just getting warmed up.

“Then there is going to court to insist on the enforcement of subpoenas,” he said. “And by the way, if you violate a court order, now you’re in criminal contempt of court and you can go to jail for that.”

“Incarceration can be in your future, either through the court system or in the extraordinary and not used for a while power of Congress,” Connolly continued. “Congress has the power, and the Supreme Court rulings in the past have upheld that power, to actually arrest and incarcerate individuals who don’t cooperate with lawful subpoenas issued by the Congress.”

President Donald Trump has declared that he’ll fight any subpoenas that come out of investigations into wrongdoing by the Trump campaign, inaugural committee and administration.

Even conservatieve are worried about the precedent that might set.

Writing in the Washington Examiner, Colin Wilhelm and Melissa Quinn say that Trump’s actions would have disastrous consequences.

“President Trump’s vow to fight “all the subpoenas” from House Democrats threatens a constitutional balance struck between the executive branch and Congress for the last 90 years,” they write.

“Legal experts from different political standpoints say that, by resisting congressional inquiries on flimsy grounds, Trump could prompt House Democrats to pursue impeachment in the near term and weaken the legal standing of the executive branch to resist future probes.”

They interview Morton Rosenberg, a former Congressional Research Service expert on congressional oversight matters and a fellow with the Federalist Society, a law group.

“This is constitutional crisis time. It truly is,” he told the Washington Examiner.

Other legal experts denounced Trump’s strategy. It’s “not really our system of government” and that “it’s a ludicrous argument on many scores,” said Daniel Shaviro, a New York University law professor and former legislation attorney for the nonpartisan congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.

Josh Chafetz, a Cornell University law professor, pointed out that the President’s tactic could also backfire politically.

“If you just say ‘no’ to everything, I think that’s just going to push people more and more towards really aggressive responses, and that’s going to include impeachment,” said Chafetz. “A lot more people are going to pay attention if you call hearings impeachment hearings rather than oversight hearings.”

Pastor Franklin Graham, one of the country’s most recognizable evangelical Christians, is facing a backlash for praising First Lady Melania Trump shortly after denouncing the alleged “sins” of Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.

Graham on Friday wished Melania a happy birthday, declaring she was the “classiest first lady our country has ever had.”

His praise for the first lady comes a few days after he lashed out at Buttigieg, demanding that he repent and not “flaunt” being gay.

“Mayor Buttigieg says he’s a gay Christian. As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized. The Bible says marriage is between a man & a woman—not two men, not two women,” Graham tweeted.

Graham followers were quick to point out that Melania had posed in the nude several times as a model, sometimes depicting same-sex scenes with another woman.

Add Rod Rosenstein to the long and growing list of self-serving, cowardly traitors willing to sell out our country and our democracy. For shame.

Josh Dawsey Verified account @jdawsey1

Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw Mueller probe, repeatedly assured Trump that he would be treated fairly, that he wasn't a "target" and that he was on the president's team. At one point last fall, he grew emotional and begged not to be fired by Trump via tweet.

Instead of criticizing @AOC for being a bartender, maybe we should start encouraging more bartenders to run for office. I'd rather have my bartender represent me than some 70-yr-old white dude who is funded by the NRA to vote down common sense legislation that protects my family.

The rule of law is not partisan. Neither is separation of powers. Speaking up for the rule of law should not fall to civil rights lawyers, Democratic Party lawyers or Never Trumpers. Every lawyer who has taken the oath to defend the Constitution must speak, must stand.

&#9878;&#65039; Corrupt DOJ. Rosenstein was trying to save his own job, while assuring the President he 'could land the plane' in Trump's behalf, The Dept. pf Justice has been completely corrupted. It just makes my stomach sink. Investigate and Impeach Trump. Our Constitution is dying